News

For thousands of years, people in Vanuatu have observed species such as birds, marine animals and plants to help predict the weather and climate.

30 November 2023 – Luganville, Vanuatu - Vanuatu’s felt the full force of nature when severe tropical Cyclone Lola hit the northern and central regions of the country last week, leaving two dead and a path of devastation in its wake. This unfortunate climate-related event underscores precisely why access to accurate, up-to-date information about Vanuatu's climate is so important.

30 October 2023, Port Vila, Vanuatu: Staff of the Climate Information Services for Resilient Development in Vanuatu Project (known locally by its Bislama acronym, VanKIRAP) wish to convey their sympathies to all those impacted by Category 5 Severe Tropical Cyclone Lola.

29 September 2023, Port Vila, Vanuatu – A significant expansion of the climate information dissemination network in Vanuatu is being celebrated with the newly inaugurated Community Climate Centres launched in Lakatoro, Malekula, and Saratamata, Ambae.

04 October 2023, Port Vila, Vanuatu - Rain or shine, weather data is collected daily all over Vanuatu by a network of weather observers from Vanuatu’s national meteorological service, the Vanuatu Meteorology and Geo-hazards Department (VMGD).

19 September 2023, Port Vila – The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) is conducting a two-day workshop with members of the Vanuatu media to strengthen their understanding of climate change and other environment-related issues in the Pacific in order to further amplify a Resilient Pacific Voice.

21 September 2023, Port Vila – Vanuatu is ranked as the most vulnerable country in the world to natural disasters due to its geographic location. The impacts of climate change have greatly exacerbated the severe weather events and natural disasters that affect Vanuatu’s 83 islands and more than 330,000 people.

13 September 2023, Port Vila, Vanuatu - A significant step in the right direction for the Vanuatu’s transport sector was taken last week with the official handover of the new Vanuatu Road Design Guide from the Climate Information Services for Resilient Development Planning in Vanuatu (VanKIRAP) Project to the Vanuatu Public Works Department (PWD).

Vanuatu's meteorologists and climatologists are responsible for keeping the country forewarned about weather and climate events that might impact lives and livelihoods. But they need good quality weather data to do this - and this data needs a strong house to protect it so that it can be used to make reliable and useful predictions about Vanuatu’s future climate.

12 September 2023, Apia Samoa - Taking a significant step towards enhancing climate resilience and informed decision-making, Vanuatu unveiled the "Vanuatu Climate Futures Portal” at the 31st SPREP Meeting.

12 September 2023, Port Vila – The importance of understanding the role of the media in helping to build resilience in Vanuatu was emphasised during the start of a two-day communications training workshop for staff of the Vanuatu Meteorology and Geohazards Department (VMGD).

06 September 2023, Apia – The application and leveraging of digital technologies to address environmental issues was highlighted during a side event at the 31st SPREP Meeting of Officials in Apia, Samoa, on Wednesday.